[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 160 (Wednesday, August 19, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50376-50377]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-20456]
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OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Generalized System of Preferences (GSP): Notice of Initiation of
the 2015 Annual GSP Product and Country Practices Review; Deadlines for
Filing Petitions
AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative.
ACTION: Notice of procedures for submission of petitions from the
public.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces that the Office of the United States
Trade Representative (USTR) is prepared to receive petitions to modify
the list of products that are eligible for duty-free treatment under
the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and to modify the
GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of
country practices. USTR is also prepared to receive petitions
requesting waivers of competitive need limitations (CNLs). This notice
provides that, pursuant to 15 CFR part 2007.3, the following deadlines
apply with respect to the 2015 review: 5:00 p.m., Friday, October 16,
2015 for the submission of petitions to modify the list of articles
eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP or to review the GSP status
of any beneficiary developing country, and 5:00 p.m., Monday, November
23, 2015 for the submission of petitions requesting CNL waivers. The
lists of petitions accepted for review will be announced in the Federal
Register at a later date.
ADDRESSES: Public comments should be submitted electronically to
www.regulations.gov in docket number USTR-2015-0013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The GSP Program at the Office of the
United States Trade Representative. The telephone number is (202) 395-
2974, the fax number is (202) 395-9674, and the email address is
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. The 2015 Annual GSP Review
The GSP regulations (15 CFR part 2007.3) provide the timetable for
conducting an annual review, unless otherwise specified by notice in
the Federal Register. Notice is hereby given that, in order to be
considered in the 2015 Annual GSP Review, relevant petitions must be
received by the GSP Subcommittee of the Trade Policy Staff Committee by
the following deadlines:
Friday, October 16, 2015, 5:00 p.m.: Petitions to modify the list
of articles eligible for duty-free treatment under GSP.
Friday, October 16, 2015, 5:00 p.m.: Petitions to review the GSP
status of any beneficiary developing country.
Monday, November 23, 2015, 5:00 p.m.: Petitions requesting waivers
of CNLs.
Petitions submitted after the above-listed deadlines will not be
considered for review. Decisions on which petitions are accepted for
review, along with a schedule for any related public hearings and the
opportunity for the public to provide comments, will be announced in
the Federal Register at a later date.
GSP Product Review Petitions
Interested parties, including foreign governments, may submit
petitions to: (1) Designate additional articles as eligible for GSP
benefits, including to designate articles as eligible for GSP benefits
only if imported from countries designated as least-developed
beneficiary developing countries, or only from countries designated as
beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries under the African Growth and
Opportunity Act (AGOA); (2) withdraw, suspend or limit the application
of duty-free treatment accorded under the GSP with respect to any
article; and (3) otherwise modify GSP coverage. Petitioners seeking to
add products to eligibility for GSP benefits should note that, as
provided in section 503(b) of the Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2463(b)),
certain articles may not be designated as eligible articles under GSP.
As specified in 15 CFR part 2007.1, all product petitions must
include, inter alia, a detailed description of the product and the
eight-digit subheading of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United
States (HTSUS) under which the product is classified.
Country Practices Review Petitions
Any interested party may submit a petition to review the GSP
eligibility of any beneficiary developing country with respect to any
of the designation criteria listed in sections 502(b) or 502(c) of the
Trade Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(b) and (c)).
Competitive Need Limitations
Any interested party may submit a petition seeking a waiver of the
2015 CNL for individual beneficiary developing countries with respect
to specific GSP-eligible articles (these limits do not apply to least-
developed beneficiary developing countries or AGOA beneficiary
countries). Before submitting petitions for CNL waivers, prospective
petitioners may wish to review the 2015 year-to-date import trade data
for products of interest. This data is available via the U.S.
International Trade Commission's ``Dataweb'' database at http://dataweb.usitc.gov/. For more information on CNLs and how they apply to
the GSP program, please visit the GSP page of the USTR Web site at
https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp.
II. Requirements for Submissions
All submissions for the GSP Annual Review must conform to the GSP
regulations set forth at 15 CFR part 2007, except as modified below.
These regulations are available on the USTR Web site at https://ustr.gov/issue-areas/trade-development/preference-programs/generalized-system-preference-gsp/gsp-program-inf.
All submissions in response to this notice must be in English and
must be submitted electronically via http://www.regulations.gov, using
docket number USTR-2015-0013. Hand-delivered submissions will not be
accepted. Submissions that do not provide the information required by
sections 2007.0 and 2007.1 of the GSP regulations will not be accepted
for review, except upon a detailed showing in the submission that the
petitioner made a good faith effort to obtain the information required.
[[Page 50377]]
To make a submission via http://www.regulations.gov, enter the
docket number for this review--USTR-2015-0013--in the ``Search for''
field on the home page and click ``Search.'' The site will provide a
search-results page listing all documents associated with this docket.
Find a reference to this notice by selecting ``Notice'' under
``Document Type'' in the ``Filter Results by'' section on the left side
of the screen and click on the link entitled ``Comment Now.'' (For
further information on using the http://www.regulations.gov Web site,
please consult the resources provided on the Web site by clicking on
``How to Use This Site'' on the left side of the home page.) The http://www.regulations.gov Web site allows users to provide comments by
filling in a ``Type Comment'' field or by attaching a document using
the ``Upload file(s)'' field. The GSP Subcommittee prefers that
submissions be provided in an attached document.
Submissions must include, at the beginning of the submission, or on
the first page (if an attachment), the following text (in bold and
underlined): (1) ``2015 GSP Annual Review''; and (2) the eight-digit
HTSUS subheading number in which the product is classified (for product
petitions) or the name of the country (for country practice petitions).
Furthermore, interested parties submitting petitions that request
action with respect to specific products should also list at the
beginning of the submission, or on the first page (if an attachment)
the following information: (1) The requested action; and (2) if
applicable, the beneficiary developing country. Submissions should not
exceed 30 single-spaced, standard letter-size pages in 12-point type,
including attachments. Any data attachments to the submission should be
included in the same file as the submission itself, and not as separate
files.
Each submitter will receive a submission tracking number upon
completion of the submissions procedure at http://www.regulations.gov.
The tracking number will be the submitter's confirmation that the
submission was received into http://www.regulations.gov. The
confirmation should be kept for the submitter's records. USTR is not
responsible for any delays in a submission due to technical
difficulties, nor is it able to provide any technical assistance for
the http://www.regulations.gov Web site. Documents not submitted in
accordance with these instructions may not be considered in this
review. If an interested party is unable to provide submissions as
requested, please contact the GSP program at USTR to arrange for an
alternative method of transmission.
Business Confidential Petitions
An interested party requesting that information contained in a
submission be treated as business confidential information must certify
that such information is business confidential and would not
customarily be released to the public by the submitter. Confidential
business information must be clearly designated as such. The submission
must be marked ``BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL'' at the top and bottom of the
cover page and each succeeding page, and the submission should
indicate, via brackets, the specific information that is confidential.
Additionally, ``Business Confidential'' must be included in the ``Type
Comment'' field. For any submission containing business confidential
information, a non-confidential version must be submitted separately
(i.e., not as part of the same submission with the confidential
version), indicating where confidential information has been redacted.
The non-confidential version will be placed in the docket and open to
public inspection.
Business confidential submissions that are submitted without the
required markings, or are not accompanied by a properly marked non-
confidential version, as set forth above, might not be accepted or may
be considered public documents.
Public Viewing of Review Submissions
Submissions in response to this notice, except for information
granted ``business confidential'' status under 15 CFR part 2003.6, will
be available for public viewing pursuant to 15 CFR part 2007.6 at
http://www.regulations.gov upon completion of processing. Such
submissions may be viewed by entering the docket number USTR-2015-0013
in the search field at http://www.regulations.gov.
William D. Jackson,
Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Generalized System
of Preferences, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
[FR Doc. 2015-20456 Filed 8-18-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3290-F5-P